Survival
by EchoingxxxWhispers
Summary: You might as well save your breath boy. They won't help you. Will you?"..."Who would help a monster like you, Gaara?"...His father smiled evilly. ABANDONED. SORRY GUYS, I COMPLETELY LOST MY INSPIRATION FOR THIS STORY
1. Breakfast

DISCLAIMER--Unfourtunately I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with him.

"Gaara! Get your ass down here now! The red head sighed, and then dragged himself out of bed. He felt dread fill his body with each step he took. It was never good when his day started out like this. "Gaara!" Gaara winced. His father was getting impatient. He made his way slowly down the stairs, afraid of what would happen when his father caught sight of him. He reached the bottom of the stairs, took a deep breath, then made his way into the kitchen.

"Yes, father," he asked, bowing slightly.

"Don't you _yes father _me, you little freak!" There was a blur of movement, and pain exploded on the side of Gaara's face. He staggered, but managed not to fall. Yondaime glared menacingly at him. "Next time get down here quicker, instead of taking your sweet time. Now, start making breakfast for me and your siblings. But since you seem to think that you're too good to come straightaway when you're called, you'll go without breakfast today." He paused, and his glare got even more threatening. "You got a problem with that?"

Gaara shook his head and tried to back away, but his father's hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist, jerking him forward. "Hmm…I seem to be going deaf. I didn't hear anything. I asked you a question! Answer me boy!"

"N-No s-sir, I d-don't have a p-problem with th-that," Gaara stuttered. He hated how scared he sounded. So weak, so powerless.

"Good," Yondaime growled, pushing Gaara away from him. The redhead stumbled and fell, hitting his shoulder on the end of the table. He felt blood slowly trickle down his arm. "Get started. And if I find out that you took some of the food, you'll be sorry," his father spat out, then turned and stomped out of the kitchen.

When his nerves were under control he walked to the fridge and pulled out the bacon and some eggs. He went to the stove and turned on two of the burners, placing a pan on top of them. When they were hot enough, he started preparing the food.

His stomach rumbled, and Gaara groaned. He hadn't eaten anything since the very small lunch he'd practically inhaled yesterday afternoon. The aroma of the cooking bacon and eggs was torture. His mouth started watering. Gaara tried to force himself not to think about the food, or how hungry he was, but it was impossible.

Gaara often went without food, and was almost always hungry. He was only allowed enough to eat to keep him alive. One of his father's favorite punishments was making Gaara make the meal while denying him to eat any of it. It was cruel. He could get used to not eating if he didn't have to smell the food cooking.

His family's breakfast finally finished cooking, so he divided it among three plates, and poured orange juice into three glasses. Kankuro and Temari walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, watching him with pitying eyes. He hated their pity. If they truly felt sorry for him they would help him. _But they're just as afraid of father as you are, even though they don't have a reason to be_, he reminded himself.

Gaara sighed, and then started setting the table. Silverware and napkins first followed by the plates. Then he took his brother and sister their juice. He went back for the third glass and was on his way back to the table when his father stormed into the kitchen, walking right in front of him. Gaara tripped, and the glass of orange juice fell to the floor and shattered into a tiny pieces. Orange juice went everywhere.

Temari gasped and looked on with frightened eyes. Kankuro suddenly found the contents of his plate very interesting. The room was silent, and the tension grew thicker with each passing second. Gaara lay shivering on the floor, afraid to move, afraid to breathe.

With a roar Gaara's father reached down and yanked the redhead off the floor. He started shaking him and screaming at him unintelligibly. Gaara closed his eyes and prayed that it would be over quickly. It wasn't.

One minute he was being shaken until he could feel his brain rattling around in his skull, then next he was thrown to the floor. Surprised, his eyes shot open. He barely registered the foot racing towards him before pain exploded in his side, over and over.

He didn't realize that he'd been screaming for help until his father laughed. "You might as well save your breath boy. They won't help you," he sneered. Yondaime turned to Temari and Kankuro. "Will you?"

Kankuro was still staring at his plate. Temari looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car that was about to crash into her. Gaara pleaded with her with his eyes. She got very pale, and glanced from Gaara to Yondaime before closing her eyes. "Who would help a monster like you, Gaara," she asked in a weak voice. A tear fell from one of her eyes, and she hastily brushed it away. Her words cut into Gaara's heart, even though he knew she didn't mean them. His father smiled evilly.

"Get up," Yondaime said in a low, menacing voice. He tried to stand, but the pain in his side made him hiss in pain, and he fell back to the floor. "I said, get UP!" With that he reached down and jerked Gaara to his feet. "Now, take off your shirt." Gaara paled, but did as he was told out of fear of making the punishment worse. "Turn around." Gaara turned around, and held onto the counter in front of him, knowing he would need to support. He closed his eyes when he heard the belt sliding through the belt loops.

The waiting was horrible. The anticipation of the pain was almost worse than the pain itself. Almost. The belt whistled as it flew through the air. CRACK! Gaara's body jerked as the belt dug into his back. The whistling came again, and the leather hit his tensed body. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Over and over again. Gaara's back felt like it was on fire, and his lungs were begging for air. But it was impossible to breathe without screaming, and screaming would only make it worse.

Finally, it stopped, and Gaara fell to the ground. The blood was pounding in his ears, and he lay there coughing and sputtering, tears streaming from his eyes. "Now, clean up this mess and go get ready for school," his father said calmly, then walked over to the table and started eating. Gaara cleaned up the glass and spilled juice, then hurried back to his room, anxious to get away from his family.


	2. Bus Stop

DISCLAIMER--Unfourtunately I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with him.

When he finally made it to his room, Gaara surveyed the damage in front of his full length mirror. His left cheek was slightly swollen, and there was a light bruise forming on his cheekbone. His right wrist had bruises in the shape of fingerprints wrapping around it, and his left shoulder was bruised, with a cut in the center of the bruise. His right side already had dark bruises forming on the swollen flesh. The colors went from red to a purple so dark it was almost black. Gaara turned around, and twisted his head so he could see his back in the mirror. It was by far the worse out of all of his injuries. There were welts going up and down his back. Some of them were bleeding, and there were bruises everywhere.

Gaara glanced at the clock and cursed. There was no time to stop the bleeding. The bus would be here soon. He hastily put black eyeliner thickly around his eyes, and threw on a black shirt, hissing when the fabric touched his back. At least the blood wouldn't show very well on the black. He changed his pants, and put on his wristbands to hide the bruises on his wrist. He grabbed his binder and math book and left the house before his father decided that he needed to be punished for something else.

He reached the end of the street and breathed a sigh of relief. Even running late, he still managed to be the first one to arrive. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Temari and Kankuro approaching the bus stop. Kankuro looked anywhere but at him, and Temari looked at him with guilty, pity filled eyes. "Gaara…"

"Don't worry about it," he interrupted her, a little too gruffly. He _really_ couldn't stand the pity. She looked away from him, and he thought that he saw tears gathering in her eyes. He knew that she regretted what she said, and he couldn't really blame her for saying it, but the words still echo over and over in his head. _Who would help a monster like you? Monster, __monster, __monster_! Gaara shook his head, and turned away from his siblings.

Other students started trickling up to the bus stop. Gaara ignored them all. He was _not_ in the mood to talk to anyone today. At least Naruto wasn't here. The hyperactive blond would probably try to force him to talk. He got a headache just _thinking _about Naruto.

Before long the bus pulled up. Everybody filed on, still talking and laughing with their friends. Gaara plopped down in a seat in the middle of the bus. He leaned his head on the back of the chair and breathed in deeply, thankful that for once the seat next to him was unoccupied. The stupid blond normally sat there and talked his ear off the way to school.

The bus driver was about to close the doors when shouts of "Wait! Wait for me!" came drifting through the air. A breathless Naruto came flying through the doors. He grinned sheepishly at the bus driver, then walked down the aisle and plopped down next to Gaara and immediately started talking a mile a minute. Gaara groaned and cursed under his breath. He was _not_ in the mood to deal with Naruto today. He spent the rest of the bus ride grumbling under his breath. Temari, who was sitting behind him, chuckled with amusement. Naruto was completely oblivious to the mumbled phrases coming from the redhead in the seat next to him. "Stupid blond….too damn hyper….needs to learn how to shut up…why me?!...."


	3. Arriving at school

DISCLAIMER--Unfourtunately I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with him.

_I'm really sorry about how long it has taken me to update. I had hoped this chapter would be a bit longer, but I didn't want to keep it from you any longer, so here you go._

**_'Shukaku speaking to Gaara'_**

_'Gaara speaking to Shukaku'_

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Just when Gaara thought that he was going to have to kill Naruto to get him to stop talking, the bus arrived at Kanoha high. Gaara instantly began to contemplate the best way to ditch Naruto. He could normally ignore the blond pretty well, but today his pounding head made that impossible. _Hmm…what would be the best way to get rid of him? If I glare at him enough maybe he'll take the hint. _Gaara thought about that for a moment. _No…it's too subtle. I've been glaring at him the way to the school and I don't think he even noticed. Maybe I should just make a run for it when I get off the bus. But…that would attract way too much attention. _ Gaara stepped off the bus after Naruto and started walking towards the school. He glanced at the blond beside him, who was still talking. _Though I wonder if he would even notice I was gone._

"Kiba!!!" Naruto practically screamed the name. Gaara flinched, the pain in his head intensifying. "See ya later Gaara!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder as he ran over to his newest victim. _Heh, at least I won't have to ditch him today._

Gaara walked into the school, glaring at everyone who looked at him in an attempt to keep them away from him. He found out a long time ago that it was easier to make people afraid to talk to him. That way he wouldn't have to deal with any concerned friends and their endless questions about where his injuries came from. He used to have friends back in Suna, but maybe it would have been different…better…if he hadn't. Maybe then nobody else would have gotten hurt because of him.

Memories of when he was younger flooded his mind. He saw his old friends, and remembered hanging out with them and having fun. He remembered how they would take care of him when he was hurt too badly. But then his father found out and….Gaara shook his head, desperately trying to clear his head. He really didn't want to think about what had happened in Suna, especially in school. He avoided those particular memories at all costs. They were too horrible to think about.

Gaara arrived at his locker and started trying to open it. His hands were shaking badly, making it almost impossible to do so. The lock finally popped open after about five attempts, and Gaara threw his math book and binder into the locker. He grabbed what he needed for his first two classes, then locked his locker and headed to the art room.

Once he got to the classroom he went to his usual seat and sat down. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. His father's angry face flashed through his mind, and he shuddered.

**_'Why don't you stand up to him, boy?' _**Gaara jumped in surprise, and opened his eyes, searching for the person who spoke before he realized that the voice came from within his mind. **_'I know I haven't spoken to you in a while, but surely you haven't forgotten me already? I was after all the one who helped you get rid of your uncle when…'_**

_'Yes, Shukaku, I remember you. You don't have to remind me of when I first met you.'_

**_'No need to be so gruff, boy. I just thought that perhaps you needed help remembering.'_**

Gaara growled softly. He knew that Shukaku only wanted to torture him with the memory of what had happened. The sand demon got pleasure out of it. _'What do you want, Shukaku?!'_

**_'I just want to help you. But if you don't want it…'_**

_'I don't. Leave me alone! Just like you have since we left Suna a few years ago.'_

**_'You'll be begging me for help soon enough, boy. And maybe then I won't speak up.'_**

_'Good! Go away!' _Gaara was so absorbed in his conversation with Shukaku that he didn't hear the bell ring, and was surprised when he saw the rest of the class in their seats. Many of them were staring at Gaara, and the few who weren't were either sleeping or listening to their iPods. Gaara glared at them, wondering why they were all staring at him, when the teacher called his name, very impatiently.

Gaara looked up and saw that the teacher looked very annoyed indeed. "Yes?"

"Oh, so you finally decide to acknowledge your name?" Iruka's gaze went to his cheek, and he frowned. _Another bruise? Surely he can't in this many fights? And the kid looks about ready to drop. _Iruka felt his impatience go away, replaced with concern for the boy. "I called you name six times already. It's not like you to doze off in class. I expect it from Shikamaru, but not you."

"Sorry, sir," Gaara mumbled.

"It's alright. Just try to get some more sleep at night. You look like you could use it. You're needed in the office to show a kid by the name of Sasuke Uchiha to his classes. It seems that he has the exact same schedule as you."

Gaara groaned and stood up. Now he would be forced to talk to some kid he didn't even know, when he didn't even feel like talking to anyone that he _did_ know. _Great, with my luck he'll be some arrogant jerk with a superiority complex._ Gaara could have sworn he heard someone chuckling in his mind. He growled again, then started walked to the office. 


	4. Arriving at school part 2

DISCLAIMER--Unfourtunately I do not own Naruto or any of the characters associated with him.

_Wow...this took me longer than expected to update. I am so sorry for the wait. You see...I have this addiction to reading fanfiction, and was doing that instead of updating my own story. Oooops! Lol._

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From the minute that Sasuke and Itachi stepped into the office, the girl at the front desk looked like she was about to throw herself at them. "Can I help you?" she asked, batting her eyelashes. Sasuke saw his brother eyeing her hungrily and he groaned in disgust. _He'll probably have her in bed with him within a week. _

Itachi flashed one of his most charming smiles at her. "As a matter of fact you can. This is Sasuke Uchiha, my brother. It's his first day here. Do you have his schedule?"

She opened a filing cabinet and rummaged through it. "Uchiha…Uchiha….Ah! Here it is!" She pulled out a piece of paper with a bright pink post it note attached to it, then took the post it note off of it and handed the paper to Sasuke. She headed to the phone and punched in some numbers that were on the note. After a pause she started reading what was on the note to the person on the other end of the line, then walked back over to them and looked at Sasuke. "Ok, so at this school when we get new students after the year has already begun we assign a guide to show you around. Your guide is going to be Gaara Subaku, as he is the only student here who has all of your classes."

As if on cue, a redhead came walking into the office. Sasuke assumed that it was Gaara, so he turned to get a better look at him. He had dark circles under his eyes, not quite disguised by the thick eyeliner that he wore. He was very thin, and his dark clothes seemed to be a size or two too big for him. His gaze went back up to the red head's face, and he saw a bruise on his cheek that he hadn't noticed before. Sasuke frowned, and saw that the boy was glaring at them.

"Gaara, this is Sasuke Uchiha. You'll be showing him around today. If Sasuke is ready, you can head back to your first period." The whole time she was talking to them, she kept glancing at Itachi. After glancing at his brother, who was practically drooling, he rolled his eyes and muttered a goodbye. _Ugh, it probably won't even take Itachi a week to be in bed with her. He'll probably have her in bed with him by the end of the day._

As Sasuke followed Gaara down the hall he noticed how the redhead seemed to walk as if he was in pain. Sasuke frowned. There was definitely something up with this kid. _Since when do you care what's up with someone else, _he asked himself. _You're an Uchiha! You're not supposed to care about anyone but yourself! _Even after telling himself that though, he couldn't seem to get Gaara out of his head. He barely knew the kid (in fact they haven't even said one word to each other!) and he already felt determined to find out what was wrong with him. This definitely wasn't normal for him. He wondered if it was because the only people he really knew were his family and the rich snobs who attended his old school.

Sasuke glanced at his schedule and saw that his first class was art. He smiled slightly. Art has always been his favorite class. He didn't care that his father disapproved of it. He loved anything creative, and art definitely fell into that category. He looked at the rest of his schedule, and saw that he had all the same classes as he did in his old school. Since he was looking at his schedule he didn't realize that Gaara had stopped walking. He ran into him, and he felt Gaara flinch before he jerked away from him. He turned around and glared at Sasuke. Sasuke was shocked to see so much anger in his eyes, but even more shocked to see the pain. Before he knew it, he found himself apologizing to Gaara. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had stopped. I honestly didn't mea…"

"Watch where you're going, you idiot! It's not that hard of a concept," Gaara hissed through clenched teeth before turning around and storming into the classroom. Sasuke blinked, then followed him into the classroom. He was filled with shock. He had actually apologized to someone. His father would be livid. His favorite motto was "Uchihas apologize to no one" and he made sure to remind that to his sons daily. Sasuke sighed, then looked around the room. The only available seat was next to Gaara. _Great, _he thought, _I have to sit next to the kid who hates me enough already to want to kill me. This is going to be fun. _Sasuke sighed then went to sit by Gaara.

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_I know, I know. Another short chapter. I normally just cut off where it feels like the chapter should end. So...sorry that the chapter is so short...again. _

_Anyways...originally I had planned on making this a Gaara/Hinata story, and only placed the characters as Gaara/Sasuke because they're the main characters. However...at the moment the story seems to be leaning towards a Gaara/Sasuke pairing. What are your thoughts on this? Would you rather it be G/H or G/S? Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!_


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